Comfort In Distress

8

Nishinoya didn't look away from the court once, keeping his eyes glued to the ball. He would sometimes glance at Asahi to see how he was doing. He was holding his own, he always did. Despite the ace's timid and passive personality it always seemed to disappear when he got into the court. He always looked confident and powerful when he spiking the ball down. The game had gone smoothly for the most part.

Number 15 had turned out to a third year, not the captain or even vice captain but definitely a good player if the refs seemed to be discarding the situation and it's severity. Nishinoya swore that their coach's had to bribing them or something but that didn't make sense as Suga told him. Since it was only a practice game, was it really worth it to pay them off? The players on their own team didn't even seem to be too fond of the guy. They seemed to be avoiding him, trying to talk to him as little as they could. The underclassmen only showing basic manners towards the guy. It was crazy how much Nishinoya noticed when he wasn't in the game. Sure he was observant of the plays and such, he had to be he was the libero. He needed to be aware of what was happening but he almost never considered the other players emotions when they were in the middle of a set, he was too focused on the ball and the game in the moment.

Karasuno has taken an early lead and kept it. At the least they were winning by a 2 point lead, and at most it was a 5 point lead. It stayed like this throughout the entire game, both sets were taken by Karasuno. And when Asahi scored that final point Nishinoya couldn't stop himself from jumping up from the bench, throwing his fists in the air as he cheered. It was just a practice game but the win meant everything to Nishinoya. His friends and teammates seemed to follow in his actions, cheering from the sidelines and from the court. Asahi looked happy as he blew through their wall, a small but genuine smile on his lips.

As his feet collided with the ground, he was immediately pulled into a group hug, being tackled by Tanaka, followed by Hinata and eventually everyone joined in. Nishinoya laughed upon seeing the ace look so startled, he clearly wasn't prepared for the group hug. Daichi yelled, telling them to knock it off and get on the line. Eventually everyone did as told, not wanting to deal with an angry Dadchi. As everyone began to make their way off of the court Nishinoya immediately ran towards Asahi, smiling brightly as he nearly knocked the ace back on the ground as he wrapped his arms around him.

"That was awesome Asahi! You were amazing out there!" He praised, looking up at the giant as he kept his arms around him.

Asahi couldn't stop the blush that painted over his cheeks from the praise and hug. His arms were out, not sure what to do nor say, he was too flustered to really comprehend what was going on. Though he eventually hugged Nishinoya back, pulling him closer, if even possible at that point.

"Thank you Noya...I told you I'd win right?" Nishinoya had always had his back, in games and just anything really. Now it was his turn and Asahi pulled through, he couldn't help but feel just a little proud of himself. The next few minutes were silent, as the two just looked at each other, both admiring the other. They didn't even realize that time had passed until they had heard coach Ukai yell for them to get on the bus or they were gonna leave their sorry asses behind.

Nishinoya quickly pulled away, now blushing as he looked off from the ace. He then looked around the gym, the opposing team was putting away the equipment and Karasuno was leaving the gym.

"W-we should probably follow them" Asahi said softly, causing Nishinoya to look back at him.

"Mhm, let's go!" He said as he began to scurry off to the doors, Asahi followed, eventually catching up to the hyperactive second year as they made their way out of the gym. Completely unaware that someone was following them.